A weekly podcast tracing the history of the Roman Empire, beginning with Aeneas's arrival in Italy
and ending with the exile of Romulus Augustulus,
last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Now complete!

Hooray! Great to hear from you, Mike! I just finished my sophomore year of college as a history major-- inspired in part by The History of Rome and your helpful podcast advice my senior year of high school. Looking forward to what you next have in store for us!

I'm so happy to hear that you're coming out with something new. I work over nights and listen to your show all night. I've relistened to the show 4 or 5 times. Love it. Can't wait to hear what you've got coming next. I did a double take when iTunes showed THoR had a new episode.

Ermigerd!!! Can't wait to have you back in my life, Mike. Sundays just haven't been the same this past year. Terribly excited for the update and can't wait for the next podcast. Hope you, Mrs. History of Rome, and little History of Rome are doing great.

Huza mike I think we all can presume you'll be covering revolutions thanks for the picture and answering my question on jordan harbours twilight histories just wondering how far in history are you going to go with these podcasts. At any rate its nice to hear your voice again :D

A year later I'm still relistening to old episodes, so I happened to catch this.

No idea how reddit works but I'll try to be there. Anyone notice it's all English and Mexican revolutions, and not, say, American or Russian? No complaints here: I'd love to hear Mike's version of those events.

* Friday, May 31st, Mike Duncan of The History of Rome podcast at about 6:30 PM EST (5:30 PM CST).
* Saturday, June 1st, Lars Brownworth of the 12 Byzantine Rulers and Norman Centuries podcasts, at about Noon EST.
* Tuesday, June 4th, Jamie Jeffers of The British History Podcast at about 6:30 PM EST (3:30 PM PST).

I started listening to THoR when it had already ended and after binge listening through the entire show I have to admit I was hooked. I actually envied the folks who got to listen to it as it developed. Actually in Italy right now and happened to check the podcast page by pure chance. Off to Rome in a few days to see the sights Mike talked about. Excited that you're coming back soon!

Ohmigosh! I've been telling everyone! I cannot tell you how exciting this is for those of us who've been going through Rome withdrawal. While it did prompt me to seek out more history podcasts (some of which are pretty good), this announcement is like podcast Christmas to me. Vive La Revolution! (also, welcome to Wisconsin)

Okay, as great as the new podcast is, I am SO JEALOUS. We left Madison 2 years ago, most of my History of Rome listening was done there. Congratulations on moving to an awesome town. Please to take the family to do some hiking up at Devil's Lake for me, and by all means drink a beer for me at the downtown Great Dane.

Mike, I forgot the best thing going. Go to the West Side Farmers Market. It's in the DMV parking lot over there. Dianne at Dream farm has the best goats milk cheeses (aged gouda is devine), Bruce at Edelweiss Creamery had a cave aged English Cheddar that is so buttery it melts in your mouth, and Mike & Cassie at Primrose are great with good vegetable selection. Stellas also has a stand there for their hot spicy cheese bread. It has just about everything of the one around the Capitol bit less crowded and you can park right next to the stalls.

I feel I must plead for the Irish revolution to be included in your upcoming Revolutionary Podcast Series.
800 years of foreign rule, to me, justifies the Irish independence as one of the most fascinating revolutionary movements in the 2nd millennium. The Easter Risings! Great stuff, dude. Great stuff. Would love to hear more about it.

So excited !! For me, the social upheavals, ideas of 'morality', and sociopolitical intrigue of the growing roman republic were the most compelling parts of the THoR podcast.

I'm so glad to see the Haitian revolution included, it's an important yet often forgotten story for Americans - from the benefits for major American land expansion as well as its role in racial politics. I recently spent a half year working in northern Haiti and I got to spend some time exploring the overgrown ruins of castles and forts built and stockpiled all over the north, some over a century after independence, in fear the french would return for retribution. The stripped and bare countryside around these ruins suggests that economic retribution was the real threat. I found the country's revolutionary history both inspiring and deeply tragic and I'm happy to hear your take!

Looking forward to what's coming, and also to re-listening to the entire Rome story. PS----->And a suggestion: turn that pic of those books 90 degrees LEFT, so we can read the titles without straining our necks. Thnx.
-Caz

Mike,
Recall during a Roman triumph there was a man who held the laurels for the victorious general and whose job was to say in his ear "Although the people are cheering for you and treating you like a god, remember you are just a man." Well I'm going to be that guy. Be careful - you probably won't receive the same rave reviews as THoR, because this isn’t ancient history anymore. The chances of Julius Caesar posting a comment on your blog are, well, remote but Fidel Castro is still alive (albeit barely) and Pol Pot’s henchmen are awaiting trial.

And as a resident of Madison from 1987 to 1995, I know that Revolution has a special place in that community. Trouble is a sizable percentage of the population will take umbrage if your views wander off the reservation (see: Sterling Hall, August 1970). Don’t be mistaking white, land-owning men acting out the ideals of the Enlightenment with the genocidal capitalist oppressors they really were or you will be forced to move to Appleton.

Then you have the marketing. A Roman holiday sipping wine and looking at Nero’s villa sounds delightful. A field trip to Damascus, not so much. Still, revolution and tee shirt sales are always a winner.

Soundtrack recommendation – has to be The Clash, but which one – White Riot, I Fought the Law (and the Law won), Tommy Gun, Spanish Bombs, Washington Bullets? Probably Tommy Gun with that drum intro.

I will be listening and cheering you on. ¡Viva la Revolución! ¡Viva El Supremissimo Duncan!

"Revolutions" sounds fantastic, and a great way for Mike to delve into a new series that can still keep him fresh as he moves from one revolution to another.

I spent almost all of my final year of modern history in high school studying the Russian, Chinese and Cuban revolutions, so I'm looking forward to these three and the others that I know far less about. A major aspect of my study on China and Cuba was comparing the major issues (e.g. role of leadership, role of ideology, role of the masses etc) across both revolutions. I assume (and hope) that comparisons of the various revolutions will form an integral part of this series.

Great news! I'm still listening to old episodes, while watching "I Claudius" being rebroadcast by the BBC as well as the BBC's "History of the Dark Ages" (Huns, Vandals and Goths), and "Mothers, Murderers, Mistresses" (consorts of the emperors)

I am STILL planning to join a History of Rome tour as soon as finances allow. Please tell me you are still running one in 2014?

I'm still only partway through THoR - on the year of the four emperors. Sorry that you had to drop the Masters degree, but best wishes for your new home (I still think of Texas as your new home, because I'm 3-4 years behind events in the podcast). If you ever get to visit the Aldo Leopold Nature Centre, I'll be very jealous.

Never before was I so excited to hear Acoustic picking number 18 in my Podcast playlist. Glad to have you back making podcasts, and I hope the move with Mrs History of Rome, and little Romulus (or should it be Che for the new podcast?) is smooth and easy. Will you be posting to the same feed, or should we get ready to move to a new web location?

Glad to hear that you're getting back to podcasting sooner than later -- I've love THoR since I discovered it a few months ago.

I'm finally listening to the interview on podcast squared and I'm going to disagree with one thing -- I love it when you're willing to share little bits of your life. Maybe it's because I'm not a guy, but.... I don't want a dry lecture. I want to imagine that we're sitting down in a pub having a great conversation about history (I talk back to your podcasts all the time -- can you hear me? :-). And so, learning a bit about you, really sets the ambiance for that.

I have listened to the HISTORY OF ROME every day while I was in AFGHANISTAN. I am on my way home tonight, and want to thank you for an absolutely wonderful narration. Every day this took me and my men on a journey to a different time and place as the HISTORY of ROME progressed.
Thank you! LtCol Shawn Basco / USMC

Hallo Mike, I never post online, but I have to post to express my unending gratitude for creating the HofR podcast. Im only up to the reign of Augustus, but I feel like I'm living in the Roman world when I listen. Thanks for the down to earth tongue in cheek approach you've taken. I heard someone say last week that the advantage of podcasting is that the pictures are created by the listener... never truer than in this case. Thanks, a listener from Gaul.

I found The History of Rome earlier this year and have been avidly listening since. As such I feel like a distant relative just connecting to a family I've known and loved but haven't met until now. Best wishes and looking forward to the next revolutionary project!

I'm really enjoying the HoR podcast! Just two things: 1) Anyone else find the episode orders are messed up when transferring them to an iPod? 2) The audio is sometimes very quiet, so much so that I have a hard time hearing listening on the bus, even with over-ear headphones!

I started listening to the HoR in April. I haven't listed to my ipod or radio since. My drive to work is about 20 minutes, so I go through an episode or so a day. I'm on the last episodes now. Glad to know they will be another project.

Hey Mike, great to hear that you are thinking of covering the Irish revolution. If you go there, and I hope you do, two pieces of advice if I may... Firstly, don't assume (not that you would) that there is any great historical knowledge to be gained from the Michael Collins film! Secondly, you must listen to a series of 10 lectures given by Michael Laffan on the subject - if you search for The Irish Revolution on itunes, you'll find them easily enough. They are gold! Good luck!

Hi Mike et al, If you told me when I began back in June of 2013 that after 180 episodes I would turn around and do it all over again, I would have said you're nuts. Well, here I am in the middle of round 2. I only remiss that I didn't discover The History of Rome until June. This time around I'm collecting a photo album that has quickly fillied up with detailed maps and pics as I go for reference. At the tender age of 50 I've become a back patio quasi Roman History buff and loving every minute. Thank you Mike falls way short of how I feel, and I'm looking forward to our next adventure in History.

a pleasure to see you back in the saddle and tackling an extensive and rich topic. PErsonally I think you are biting off even more than you did with THoR, as thre is a ton more documentation and live journals from the various revolutions of the more recent past.

I am very much looking forward to hearing your insights into the various revolutions around he world. Welcome back to podcasting, and I look forward to listening and continuing to tell everyone I know thats interested in hostory about your previous and new podcasts!